GEORGE WASHINGTON
1732. Born about ten o’clock in the morning of February 22nd (by the calendar of those days, February 11th), upon the old Washington plantation of Wakefield bordering the Potomac River between Bridges’ and Pope’s Creek in Westmoreland County of the Colony of Virginia’s “Northern Neck”—the peninsula formed by the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers. Father, Augustine Washington; mother, Mary Ball Washington, second wife. The Washington family was of good English stock dating back to the Thirteenth Century, and had a long roll of scholars and valiant soldiers. George Washington’s great-grandfather, John Washington, had settled here in Westmoreland County in 1657. When George was born he had two half-brothers, Lawrence and Augustine. He was followed by five brothers and sisters—Elizabeth, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles and Mildred.
1735. The family moves to another plantation at Hunting Creek, fifty miles northward up the Potomac. This plantation was called Washington, and later was named Mount Vernon.
1739. When George is seven the family moves again, this time down to Stafford along the east side of the Rappahannock River, opposite the town of Fredericksburg.
1743. George’s father dies, aged forty-nine, when George is eleven. He leaves a widow and seven children: George’s two elder half-brothers, Lawrence and Augustine, and the younger sister and brothers—Betty, Samuel, John Augustine and Charles. George is willed the Stafford plantation; other plantations and properties are willed to the other children. The mother is guardian.
1743–1745. George continues his schooling which first was under the direction of a church sexton, Mr. Grove, whom the boys called “Hobby,” at the Stafford plantation; and next under Mr. Williams, near Wakefield where, after his father’s death, George lives for a time with Augustine, its owner. By his mother he is taught religion and courtesies. From his father, a very powerful man, he inherits great strength, so that he is a leader in athletics. He is a fearless horseback-rider and is fond of hunting and fishing and playing at soldier. In mathematics he is good, in grammar and spelling and language not good; but he pays much attention to copying business forms and isneat in his papers. He likes the problems and out-door life of land surveying.
1746. At fourteen he decides to go to sea and become a merchant captain or an officer in the British Navy. But his mother opposes, and at the last moment he yields to her. He attends school kept by the Reverend James Marye, a Frenchman, in Fredericksburg.
1747. Leaving school he lives with his half-brother Lawrence upon the Mount Vernon plantation. Lawrence had married a daughter of William Fairfax of Belvoir, up-river from Mount Vernon. The Fairfax family was distinguished in England and in Virginia. At Belvoir there was also Lord Thomas Fairfax, elder brother of William Fairfax, recently arrived from London to enjoy his vast estate of 5,700,000 acres of Virginia lands. The boy George Washington is much at Belvoir, and Lord Fairfax takes a great liking for him.
1748. In March, having just turned his seventeenth year, George is appointed by Lord Fairfax to survey the immense tract of land which as yet has scarcely been explored. He sets out with only George William Fairfax, the twenty-two-year-old son of William Fairfax, and the two spend a month in the Virginia wilderness.
1749. In July, George Washington, now seventeen years of age, is appointed public surveyor of Virginia lands. This engages him through two years; he is out for weeks at a time, in all kinds of weather, and grows accustomed to hardships, woods lore and Indian ways. Between whiles he is frequently at Greenway Court, Lord Fairfax’s residence seat near Winchester, Frederick County, where he studies and hunts with his old friend; he visits his brothers and his mother.
1751. At the age of nineteen he is commissioned by the Governor of Virginia as an adjutant-general, with rank of Major, in charge of a district of the Colonial Militia. His brother Lawrence, who had served with a British regiment in the West Indies and the Spanish Main, and was adjutant-general in Virginia, recommended him. This suits George. He studies military science and fencing.
1751–1752. In September of 1751 Lawrence Washington sails for Barbadoes of the British West Indies, to gain health. George, who loves him dearly, goes with him. At Barbadoes George is stricken with the smallpox, which scars his face. He returns in the winter to Virginia, to escort his brother’s wife to the Bermudas in the spring and there meet Lawrence. But Lawrence cannot wait, and comes home.
1752. This summer Lawrence dies at Mount Vernon. He wills the plantation to his little daughter, and as executor of the estate George remains there to oversee the business. Aged twenty, he is now appointed by Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia as adjutant-general of the northern military division which covers several counties.
1753. Major George Washington, aged twenty-one, is sent by Governor Dinwiddie as a commissioner to inquire into the French invasion of the Ohio River country in the northwest; for the French soldiers from Canada were building a line of forts from Lake Erie down along the Ohio River in territory claimed by Great Britain. Major Washington was to travel almost 600 miles through the wilderness, and find the French commander. He leaves Williamsburg, the Virginia capital, on the last day of October. He takes with him Christopher Gist as guide, John Davidson as Indian interpreter, Jacob Vanbraam, who had been a soldier and was a fencing master, to speak French, and four others. After a journey of forty-five days he arrives at the French headquarters post fifteen miles south of Lake Erie. On the way he notes that the “Forks of the Ohio,” where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers join in present western Pennsylvania, is a fine site for a fort.
1754. In January Major George Washington is back to report to Governor Dinwiddie at Williamsburg that the French refuse to withdraw from their line of posts. An expedition is organized to build a British post at the Forks of the Ohio. Major Washington is commissioned lieutenant-colonel, as second in command. In April he marches with three companies to support a detachment already gone. The detachment is driven from the Forks by the French, and as commander in the field, Lieutenant-Colonel Washington entrenches at Great Meadows, short of the Forks. On May 28th he surprises a French and Indian detachment and defeats it. This is his first battle; he is twenty-two years old. Having been reinforced to 400 men, at Great Meadows he erects a log fort named Fort Necessity, in order to hold fast, and on July 3rd is attacked by 900 French and Indians. This night terms are made by which the garrison should march out with the honors of war. On July 4th Fort Necessity is abandoned to the French. The French build Fort Duquesne at the Forks of the Ohio.
1755. After the affair at Great Meadows the Colonial troops lacked men and supplies and money. Washington protests against another campaign until strength and weather permit. This spring General Edward Braddock of the British Regulars arrives to lead a force of Regulars and Colonialsagainst Fort Duquesne. George Washington is invited to join him as aide, with rank of captain. The expedition is defeated by the French and Indians near Fort Duquesne, July 9th, in a terrible battle. General Braddock is fatally wounded, and Colonel George Washington behaves “with the greatest courage and resolution;” has two horses shot from under him and four balls through his coat.
1755–1757. Following the battle of Braddock’s Field, Colonel Washington continues to live at beautiful Mount Vernon, to which he has fallen heir. He is soon appointed by the Virginia legislature to the command of all the Virginia militia. He is kept busy organizing the troops and inspecting the outposts.
1758. Having recovered from a long illness extending into March, in July he marches his Virginia regiments to take part in another expedition, this time under General Forbes, against Fort Duquesne. He leads the advance, but the fort is deserted by the enemy. The name is changed to Fort Pitt, which becomes Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the close of this year Washington again retires to private life.
1759. Not quite twenty-seven years old, he is married, January 6th, to Mrs. Martha Custis, daughter of John Dandridge and widow of John Parke Custis, with two children. She is three months younger than George Washington, and wealthy in her own rights.
1759–1769. Having been elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, or the Colonial legislature, Colonel Washington serves there. He resides at Mount Vernon, and devotes his private life to the business of his plantation, to hunting and riding, and to mingling in local society and in that of Williamsburg the capital and Annapolis the capital of Maryland. In business he is very strict, keeping full account of all transactions and shipping his tobacco to England.
1770. This fall he makes a trip, horseback, to the Forks of the Ohio again, where a few cabins around Fort Pitt mark the beginning of Pittsburgh; thence down the Ohio for 255 miles by canoe, inspecting the western lands granted to soldiers of the French and Indian War with Great Britain.
1771–1774. The American Colonies have been protesting against the Acts of the British Parliament which worked hardships upon them. In September, 1774, George Washington, aged forty-two, is a delegate from Virginia to a general Congress held at Philadelphia for the purpose of drawing up petitions of rights. Patrick Henry says that in “solid information andsound judgment” Colonel Washington was the greatest man on the floor.
1775. War with Great Britain having commenced, on June 15th the Second Continental Congress in session at Philadelphia appoints George Washington commander-in-chief of the American military forces. He takes command July 3rd, with rank of general.
1775–1782. Serves as commander-in-chief of the American army in the War of the Revolution.
1783. In October General Washington issues his Farewell Address to the army. December 4th he bids his officers goodby, in person, at Harlem, New York. December 23rd he resigns his commission, in the temporary Hall of Congress at Annapolis. December 24th he arrives home at Mount Vernon, having been absent over eight years.
1784–1786. He declines to be paid for his expenses during the war, and wishes no reward, but settles down to home and business life. His advice is much sought. He entertains many visitors, among them Lafayette; and makes a tour west to the Ohio River once more.
1787. In May he is a delegate from Virginia to the General Convention in Philadelphia to draw up a Constitution of the United States; and is chosen president of the convention.
1789. In February George Washington, aged fifty-seven, is unanimous choice of the people for first President of the United States. On March 4th the election is ratified. He is at once notified by messenger from Congress, and on March 6th he leaves Mount Vernon for New York, then the seat of Congress. He takes oath of office April 30th, and delivers his inaugural address. His mother, aged eighty-two years, dies in August. This same year he suffers a serious illness from which he never completely recovers.
1790. By his advice the present District of Columbia is selected as the site of the National Capital. He is again ill. While President he keeps close track of his plantation interests and is a student of farming methods. He looks forward to retiring to his beloved Mount Vernon.
1791. He defines the site and marks the boundaries of the new National Capital district, ten miles square, to be named Washington.
1793. The welfare of the nation demands that he remain President, and on March 4th he enters upon his second term of office.
1793–1797. Washington continues as wise and able President. In 1796 Lafayette’s son, George Washington Lafayette,comes to the United States and for a year and a half is a member of Washington’s household.
1797. Having declined nomination to a third term of office, and having, on September 15, 1796, issued a Farewell Address to the people of the United States, on March 4th, 1797, Washington retires from the Presidency and is succeeded by Thomas Jefferson.[see Tr. Notes]
1798. At Mount Vernon Washington has been following the peaceful routine of a farmer. War with France threatens, and in July he is nominated lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief of an army to be raised. He accepts and applies himself to organizing the army.
1799. December 12 he is wet and chilled with snow while riding over his land. After only twenty-four hours in bed he dies between ten and eleven o’clock at night, December 14th. December 18th he is laid to rest in the family vault at Mount Vernon. His age was sixty-seven years and ten months lacking a week.
’Tis nobly done—the day’s our own—huzzah, huzzah!
’Tis nobly done—the day’s our own—huzzah, huzzah!
’Tis nobly done—the day’s our own—huzzah, huzzah!